Ancient Fire is the name of my brand of homemade wines, meads, ciders & beers. Under that name I also write articles on my projects, wines from around the world, food & pairing, the wine business, wineries, travel and all things I enjoy in this life. -- Jason

Friday, November 18, 2011

Drinking Local – A Regional Selection from Hunt Country Vineyards

Not long after I came back from my first trip to the Finger Lakes
I got to Tweeting away with Andy at Hunt Country Vineyards. I had not visited Hunt Country, we weren't acquainted yet, during that trip and with so many
wineries to choose from I could only be so worried that I would miss someone. The
bigger worry would be that I didn't get back there soon. Fear not, we return in
February and June next year!

Andy sent me sample wines to try, thank you, which added more fodder to the
fire that is the tastings and pairings I want to experiment with using my stash
of Finger Lakes wines I picked up along my journey.

I tasted the Huny Country
2009 Cabernet Franc for an installment of #winechat that featured that
varietal, its history and tastings from different participants of different
types from around the world. This week I opened and tasted the 2009 Valvin Muscat.

The nose on this wine is full of flower petals, fruit tree
blossoms and young fruit. You have to like the perfumed nose of a Muscat to try
enough to seek out renditions that really wow you. I like this type of aromatic
profile which is why I like aromatic vinifera’s like Viognier and
Gewurztraminer. That is also why I like Riesling, Traminette, Torrentes, La
Crescent, all types of Muscat and the little known grape Symphony. The hallmark
of a good version of any of those wines is a bountiful nose full floral and
fruit notes.

The one thing I liked the most about this wine is the lusciousness
on the palate. The touch of sweetness along with the viscosity of the wine
creates a very nice body.

The finish is all lemons and with that body and sweetness it
tastes like a lemon sour candy. Nicely played! I tweeted my thoughts on the
wine and a response from Evan Dawson got the most descriptive wine review tweet
award for the week. Evan tweeted:

This is one of the most well put together Muscat’s I’ve had.
Some of the versions I’ve tried in the past have missed on balance, whereas
this wine is well balanced, from hotness, sharp mineral acidities, too much
sugar or a nose that was completely disconnected from the body. Finicky grape,
I guess.

The Hunt Country Vineyard 2009 Valvin Muscat finishes smooth
with citrus, but not in the overt cleanup role drier white wines express lemon
and citrus. The finish is long and the body sticks with you the whole way. Very
reminiscent of a lemon infused and sweet herbal tea.

My pairing for the evening, which I have no pictures of, was
curried chicken kebabs. The pairing was well conceived and the wine and chicken
went together, but no sparks flew. They didn’t oppose each other in any obvious
way so I wouldn’t dissuade people from trying something similar. Not much more
to say. They wine was good enough on its own that it didn’t really matter becuase
I was rushing through dinner to get back in the kitchen to tend to a couple
batches of cider. The juice-maker has to eat too!

Cheers!

Jason

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”